Ford will raise German production as demand rebounds

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Ford Motor will increase production of its Fiesta and three other models in Germany to meet growing demand in some of the region's key markets.

Ford will raise Fiesta output at Cologne, its main European plant, by 300 vehicles a day starting in February to 1,850, the company said today in a statement. Six extra shifts will be added at Cologne on weekends during the first two months of 2015 to underpin the move, Ford said.

Ford will also increase production of the Focus compact car, along with the C-Max and Grand C-Max minivans in Saarlouis, Germany, by 240 vehicles a day starting next week to 1,770.

Ford, which is incurring losses in Europe, cut production of the Fiesta at Cologne during the final quarter of 2014 when it applied for subsidies under the German government's "Kurzarbeit" short-work program, affecting about 4,000 of the plant's 17,300 employees.

Demand for Ford vehicles has been boosted by the strong UK market, where the Fiesta and Focus were the No. 1 and No. 2 best sellers respectively last year. Ford sold 131,254 Fiestas in the UK in 2014 and 85,140 Focus models, according to data from the SMMT industry association.

Sales of Ford models in the EU and EFTA markets rebounded in December to grow 4 percent to 67,117 cars after plunging 6 percent in November, according to datareleased today by industry association ACEA.